" Je suis, depuis des mois, travaillé par une question lancinante, qui revient cogner en moi comme une migraine, récurrente, familière. Pourquoi de jeunes hommes et jeunes femmes, nés dans mon pays, issus de ma culture, dont les appartenances semblent recouvrir les miennes, décident-ils de partir dans un pays en guerre et de tuer au nom d'un Dieu qui est aussi le mien ? …
Spanish pop star Rafael Martos (born Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez and globally as "Raphael") is one of Spain's best-known singers. His multi-octave range and flamboyant stage persona have entertained and engaged people worldwide since 1959. He is also a movie and television actor, and the father of Spanish movie director Jacobo Martos. Raphael is perhaps known best in his homeland for dramatically acting out his songs while on-stage. His record company, Hispavox, awarded him with the world's one and only "Uranium Disc" for his compilation album Ayer, Hoy y Siempre due to the impossibility of presenting him with 300 platinum discs – it sold 50 million copies.
Alpha presents the reissue of Ensemble Pygmalions version of Dardanus, conducted by Raphaël Pichon and recorded in the majestic acoustics of the Opéra Royal at Versailles Palace. This set won multiple awards on its first release: Rameau, a flinty-hearted composer lacking in imagination? Rameau, a cold mathematician in his chord progressions and a severe draughtsman in his vocal lines? One need only listen, in Dardanus, to the melancholy laments of Princess Iphise, splendidly sung by the soprano Gaëlle Arquez, to realise the treasures of tenderness and invention that still remained in the youthful heart of the fifty-six-year-old composer! . . . This version, which fills an important gap in the discography, possesses all the assets needed to speak to us today, and to last.
In the 60's, Stan Getz and others introduced Brazilian music into jazz. Now a new generation of Brazilian players returns the favor. These Veteran guitarists Romero Lubambo and Raphael Rabello are teaming up for an evocative, high spirited acoustic guitar duet set that combines vigorous jazz improvisation with a broad range of Brazilian rhythms.
After ‘Stravaganza d’amore’, their superb album of late sixteenth-century Florentine music, Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion return to Italy, this time to Mantua. Here they offer us their reading of one of the peaks of sacred music from this period: Monteverdi’s Vespers. Revealing like no other interpreters the poignant interiority of these pieces, they bring out to the full their inherent sense of theatre. An overwhelming experience.
The six sonatas for violin and harpsichord obbligato rank amongst the most beautiful chamber music composed by Bach however, they are overshadowed by the solo sonatas. They are performed beautifully here by Daniel Gaede and Raphael Alpermann. The slow movements display a range of moods, from desolate and lonely to radiantly festive. Meanwhile, the fast movements are a mixture of high-spirited instrumental music and contrapuntal mastery. There are canons, fugues, chorale preludes and much more: practically a compendium of options. Daniel Gaede and Raphael Alpermann guide us through this treasure trove of curiosities with virtuosity and sensitivity.